Monday, November 7, 2011

This photo was taken October 28, 2011, of the leaders of three great branches of the Church (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican), along with others, who gathered in Assisi for reflection, dialogue, and prayer for peace. This was a very significant, yet mainly overlooked, event that should have had world-wide impact.

In all of the noise and insanity of today's world, let us not forget the responsibility we have to pray and work for the peace and well-being of all of God's creation and all the nations and peoples. As people of faith, the task before us is to look for and expect to discover God in those around us -- in everyone -- not only those who claim to be Christian, but for all people everywhere. We spend so much time and energy criticizing, judging, and alienating those around us and we ignore that we are, in fact, all children of God. It is our responsibility, as a people of faith, to see the Holy in all of our brothers and sisters and to rejoice with them in our common heritage as creatures of God.

We cannot set limits or boundaries on our love and respect for others anymore than God's love is limited, earned, or qualified. In God there are no outcasts. Among us are the poor and the rich, those who morn and those who rejoice, the meek and the not so meek, the hungry and the satisfied, the merciful and the not so nice, the pure and the not so pure, the peacemakers and, yes, even the troublemakers, and we are all part of the family of God.

In the face of all, we must pray for peace, strive for the well-being of all creation, and work for justice for all peoples of the world. Living in God's creation we are all standing on "holy ground" where the boundaries between the sacred and the secular disappear and we are all one -- "spiritual beings," said Teilhard de Chardin, "having a human experience."

Thursday, November 3, 2011

As Christians, the task for us is to first both expect and look for Christ in those around us — in everyone– not just those who claim Christianity, but all people of faith, all of God’s creation.We spend so much energy criticizing, judging, and alienating those around us that we often fail to realize that we are, in fact, in the presence of a saint, a child of God, a bearer of God's image and a carrier of God's grace.Trevor Huddleston, CR, one of the great Twentieth Century missionaries to Africa (and priest and mentor to a young Desmond Tutu), said:

My responsibility is always and everywhere the same: to see in my brothers and sisters more even than the personality and humanity that are theirs.My task is always and everywhere the same: to see Christ himself in them.

--- Naught for Your Comfort

That is the responsibility of every one of us – to see God in our brothers and sisters, to rejoice with them in our common heritage, and to celebrate that we are living together in the grace of the Holy Spirit.Within this Christian fellowship of ours is where we begin but we cannot end there nor set limits or boundaries to our love and respect anymore than God’s love is limited or qualified.Among us are the poor and the rich, those who mourn and those who rejoice, the meek and the proud, the hungry and the satisfied, the merciful and the not so nice, the pure and the not so pure, the peacemakers and the troublemakers, but at the core we are all a part of the family of God.